The nonprofit COAST requests contributions from municipalities, but towns and cities decide how much to contribute. The requests are based on a funding formula that takes into account the population living and working within walking distance of the routes, number of service miles provided and number of riders.

Towns balk at funding COAST bus costs for ADA mandate

By Jennifer Keefe

news@seacoastonline.com

February 18, 2013 - 1:01 PM

The Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation is asking communities to chip in more as demand for a Americans with Disabilities Act requirement for door-to-door pickup has increased the past five years.

COAST has provided that ADA service since the mid-1990s. “We've seen demand grow by approximately 50 percent per year,” said Executive Director Rad Nichols. The ADA door-to-door service cost COAST about $180,000 in 2009. In the current 2013 fiscal year, the cost is estimated at about $850,000, he said.

The nonprofit COAST requests contributions from municipalities, but towns and cities decide how much to contribute. The requests are based on a funding formula that takes into account the population living and working within walking distance of the routes, number of service miles provided and number of riders.

“Every community can decide not to fund COAST,” Nichols said. “If they decide not to fund at the levels we request, we have to make some difficult decisions.”

For so-called “pass-through” towns like Greenland and Stratham, ridership is low and officials in those towns are struggling with the request for additional dollars.

At Greenland's Town Meeting in March, residents will be asked to allocate $8,470 for COAST, but based on the funding formula, COAST is asking for $12,690 in 2014. “We struggled at (the 2012) town meeting to get a contribution of $3,000 when we were asked for $6,000,” said Greenland Town Administrator Karen Anderson. “And I was surprised we were able to get that $3,000.”

The town implemented a $2.50 surcharge on all vehicle registration fees that goes into an account to pay for COAST, but Anderson said there isn't enough money in that account to cover the increase COAST is requesting. Anderson said COAST made 611 stops in Greenland in 2012, which includes pickups and drop-offs.

COAST made 618 stops in Stratham in 2012 and town officials are not on board with the new funding request of $18,000, up from its current $6,000 contribution. This increase equates to about $30 per ride. Deschaine said Stratham has two ADA and two non-ADA regular COAST riders, which makes up just 0.2 percent of the system's total ridership.

Newmarket Town Administrator Steve Fournier said the town now contributes $20,748, but added the town's budget is level-funded so there will be no additional contribution.

“We have a large population who use COAST as well as other transit,” he said. “But I think the state, as well as other government, needs to realize the local governments can't always foot the bill for these things. There are needs in our community that aren't just Newmarket-specific — they are regional. Those needs need to be picked up on the state level.”

Nichols said cost increases for the ADA requirement are associated with the increased hours vehicles are on the road and increased miles driven. In COAST's service area, Nichols said, there are about 30 ADA individuals who are regular or heavy users of the service — a heavy user being someone utilizing the bus service for transportation to and from regular medical appointments such as dialysis, for example.

“They may have used to rely on friends and family or other (Department of Health and Human Services) funded programs to get them to and from dialysis, but increasingly these folks are looking to us for their transportation needs,” Nichols said. “We're a bit concerned that's representative of the state shifting costs to the regional or local levels.

“As a country, as communities, we've said we want to promote independent living and people living where they want to be, and we're mandating these services be provided, but we're not funding them.”

The federal government funds about 60 percent of COAST's service. Fares charged to riders make up about 5 percent of its annual budget.

Portsmouth City Manager John Bohenko said the city is working with COAST on the increase request. “It is a substantial increase because of the ADA requirements,” he said.

The city's current total contribution is $169,000, which includes $54,000 for regional services, $95,000 for the Pease International Tradeport and Route 1 trolley and $20,000 for the downtown loop trolley.